The Party
by EraganShan
Summary: The Avengers are given a month off work but Steve doesn't know how to spend it in the new world he's in. Tony's throwing a party at Stark Tower and Natasha offers to help Steve get through the party and the summer.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Nope, don't own the movie or the characters... which sucks.

Authors Note: My first Avengers story so constructive criticism is welcomed!

Chapter 1

Tony Stark literally jumped out of his chair and punched his fists into the air, shouting "Whoo!" the second Nick Fury told him and the rest of the Avengers were being a whole month off of work to do whatever they wanted.

Steve just sat there wide-eyed and couldn't believe it. What was he supposed to do for a whole month? He looked around the table and saw that the rest of the team had happy expressions on their faces and were laughing at Tony's outburst. "Sir, a whole month? Are you sure?"

Tony beat Fury to an answer and said, "Shush it Cap! Schwarma and this! Best week ever you will not ruin this for me. Speaking of best week ever, party at Stark Tower once it's totally fixed."

Thor nodded in agreement and said, "I agree with Tony, we deserve a break and I am most curious to see what is included in Earth parties."

"Come on Steve, it'll be fun and you can finally relax." said Natasha with a small smile.

They all started arguing with him that he should be excited while Fury watched with a smile.

Steve sighed and said "Fine but I have no idea what to do for fun or what happens at parties anymore."

Natasha realized that they'd all forgotten that Steve really didn't know too much about the world anymore. She took pity on him and said, "Don't worry; you can hang out with me. We'll have fun."

As soon as Tony heard that he whistled and whispered something to Clint. They both started laughing but stopped when they saw Natasha's deathly glare. Steve was blushing when he nodded to her and said "thanks."

Fury looked them over and said, "Ok, that was all I needed to tell you. You can get out now." gesturing to the door.

They quickly departed and when they were out of the office, Tony started talking to them about the party. He said it would probably be repaired and ready for the party in a week. The Avengers then went their separate ways till the party.

Steve started to walk with Natasha because he thought she might have an idea of something for him to do. "Thank you for helping me with this. If you didn't offer I probably would have been the gym for the whole month."

She smiled and replied, "No problem I didn't have anyone to hang out with either."

He was confused. "I figured that you would be spending a lot of time with Clint."

"Why would I do that?"

Okay, even more confusing. "Aren't you and him a- I mean aren't you two dating or something?"

Now it was Natasha's turn to look confused. "Where did you get that? He's just my friend."

"Oh, ok."

"Anyway, what do you want to do first? We could go see a movie or go to an amusement park or something else."

Steve thought about it then realized she said we. "Wait you mean we're going to be doing these things together?"

"What'd you think I meant? Is it going to be a problem?"

"No no it's no problem. I honestly just thought that you we're going to tell me stuff to do and not actually stay to do them with me." He could feel his face turning red with embarrassment.

Natasha laughed and said, "Why would I do that? Then I wouldn't have anything to do."

With his face still red, he smiled and said, "I have no idea. I guess I'm not used to beautiful women actually paying attention to me. My friend Bucky used to get all the girls. But anyway, you can pick where we go I don't really care where."

He looked over at her and saw that she was blushing. He didn't realize what'd he'd said until now.

She thought it over and said, "I know the perfect place." They had reached the front of the building by now.

"Ok, well I'll follow you to it."

"I rode with Bruce here. Is it okay if I ride with you?"

Steve gulped. His motorcycle wasn't the biggest she would have to be very close to him. "It's fine with me," He walked over to the motorcycle, grabbed the only helmet, and handed it to her, "Here"

"It's okay. I don't need it." She replied handing it back to him.

He laughed and put it in the bag on the back of the motorcycle. "Well I don't want it either." He mounted the motorcycle and she got on behind him.

She wrapped her arms around him and said, "Ok let's go. I'll give you the directions while we're riding."

He nodded and tried to ignore the weird feeling in the pit of his stomach. He was completely aware of every part of her body that touched his. He started the motorcycle and started in the direction she told him.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Nope, still don't own them.

Author's Note: Thanks SO much for the reviews and thank you for favoriting and following!

Chapter 2

Natasha could feel her hair whipping behind her. She could see the lights of the city coming to life around them while they sped through traffic to the destination Natasha had in mind. She hoped he would like it. When they got in sight of it, she could hear Steve gasp then laugh.

When they were parked, Steve practically jumped off of the motorcycle and turned to face her. "Thank you, thank you Natasha. I haven't been to Coney Island since Bucky and I went."

"That's why I figured you would want to go," She remembered that Steve told her that he threw up after the Cyclone and smiled, "Hope you don't throw up this time."

He grimaced but it was quickly replaced with a smile. "Yeah I hope so too."

They started walking towards the ticket booth. When they got there, Natasha started to pull out some money but was stopped by Steve. "What?" she asked.

While pulling out his wallet he replied, "I'm not going to let you pay. I've got it." Natasha was hesitant at first but agreed to let him pay for her. When their tickets were bought, they walked into the park.

They rode some rides and not once did Natasha see the smile on Steve's face disappear. When they got to the Cyclone, Steve looked hesitant to ride it but she grabbed his hand and started pulling him into the seats on the cart. "Oh don't worry you'll be fine."

He nodded and seemed to relax. When the ride was approaching the top of the first hill, Steve said, "Put your hands up when we go down."

She laughed and said, "You can."

"You're missing out on all the fun." he teased.

"I'll survive."

When the ride started to go down the hill, Steve grabbed her hand that was closer to him, and raised their hands. Natasha laughed at that and raised her other hand to please him. They rode like that for the whole ride, her hand in his hand. There were butterflies in her stomach from the ride, or at least that's what she told herself.

When the ride came to an end, they lowered their arms. He must have just realized that they were holding hands because he had a bright blush on his face and released his grip on her hand. "Sorry."

Natasha smiled and said, "Its ok. Holding hands isn't as big of a deal now as it was in the 40's."

He nodded in thanks and led her over to the carnival games. "Ok, pick a game."

"Steve nobody wins these things."

"I'll prove you wrong. Just pick any prize you like."

She scanned the rows of prizes and saw pointed to a game that had jumbo stuffed animals for prizes. "Ok, if you think you can get one go get a jumbo stuffed golden retriever dog."

He saw the one she was pointing at and grinned, "Ok." He started walking over to it and they saw that it was a ring toss game. He paid the person working at the stand 5$ for a bucket of rings.

He set it in between them and grinned. He had an amused look on his face, like he just remembered something. She grabbed a handful of rings and started tossing them. They all missed. Steve picked up a single ring and tossed it. It flew perfectly and landed on a bottle. She couldn't believe it. He had gotten it on his first try.

The worker walked up to him and said, "Which prize?"

Steve pointed to the dog that she told him to go get. "That one please." The worker handed it over to Steve, who then handed it over to Natasha. "Here, thank you for the wonderful night so far."

She blushed and said, "Thanks, and you're welcome."

He gestured to the dog and asked, "Do you want me to carry it for you?"

Its feet were dragging on the ground while she was holding it. She nodded and said, "Thanks."

He grabbed it out of her hands and said, "No problem. Do you want some ice cream?"

She realized that she was getting hungry and said, "Yes but let me pay."

He laughed and said, "I'm not going to let you pay for anything tonight. What flavor do you want?"

"Fine, I'll take chocolate."

When they got to the ice cream place that was in the park, Steve left the dog with her at one of the tables outside and went inside to order. He came back a few minutes later with a vanilla ice cream cone in one hand and a chocolate in the other. "Here you go." He said as he handed her the chocolate one.

"Thanks. So how did you get the ring toss in a single throw?" She had been dying to know how he did it.

He laughed and said,"When Bucky and me came; he was trying to impress girls by winning them stuffed animals. He would ask them to go get a drink or something then while they were gone, we tried to win a prize on the ring toss. He did that to several girls so I basically mastered it by the time he gave up on trying to impress them."

Natasha laughed and said, "Who would have thought Captain America is an expert ring tosser. Thanks for the fun time tonight. Want to meet up again soon and do something else?"

"Yeah that would be nice. Call me when you want to."

"Ok. I'll take a taxi home. I don't think that the dogs going to fit on your motorcycle."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah it'll be fine." When they finished their ice cream, they started walking towards the exit of the park.

Steve waited until Natasha got a cab then said, "Bye."

"Bye, see you soon." She replied as she entered the taxi. She hadn't expected this night to go so good. She found herself really looking forward to the next time they hung out.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: Ummmm nope. Still don't own movie or characters.

Authors Note: Thanks for the reviews! Knowing that people like it really helps me write. Also, should the party be just the Avengers and SHIELD agents or should there be a lot of people? I can't decide!

Italics are thoughts

Chapter 3

"No. For the tenth time I'm not going with you to Asgard."

Thor practically pleaded when he said, "But friend Steve, it will be a kingly journey. You will be treated like royalty and you could partake in battles with some of the finest warriors of Asgard."

Steve chuckled and shook his head. Thor had come over to his apartment, wanting him to go to Asgard until the party. "Maybe some other time, I promised Natasha I'd go bowling with her tonight. The parties only three days away, I'm sure you can find something on Earth to do. Go visit Jane."

"That will not be possible. Jane is going to a thing they call a science convention where she will be meeting with important scientists."

"Then why don't you go?"

"I have no wish to try and understand the technology on this planet."

Steve laughed and said, "Ok I can understand that."

"What is this event you and Natasha are taking place in?"

"Bowling is a sport where you roll a ball down a small lane and try to knock down the ten pins that are at the end of the lane. It's pretty simple."

Thor nodded and said, "Yes, I believe we have an event similar to this on Asgard. When will we be leaving?"

"What do you mean we?"

Thor looked confused. "You said you and Natasha are going bowling, I wish to attend."

"Umm, ok, I'm leaving in about an hour. Are you sure you want to come?" He wasn't sure if Natasha would want Thor to come. He didn't mind so he didn't think Natasha would either.

"Yes, I am most curious to see how similar this is to our event on Asgard."

"Ok then I'll meet you at the bowling alley just down the street from here at five."

Thor rose from the couch he was sitting on and said, "Then I shall see you and Natasha at five."

* * *

Steve entered the bowling alley and was surprised to see it was nearly empty. There was a group of teenagers playing on one of the far lanes and a couple of families scattered around the bowling alley. He walked up to the counter and pulled out his wallet.

The worker was a female teenager that seemed to recognize him as Captain America. "Oh my god. You're Captain America aren't you!?"

Steve smiled and said, "Yes I am."

"You saved my life in Manhattan. The aliens had us cornered in a building but then you came in and saved us. I was scared to death when I saw you fall out of the window."

"I'm happy to help people and I'm happy you're alright. I'd like to buy a single game of bowling for three people."

He started to hand her the money for the game when she said, "There is no way I am going to let you pay. I'll pay for your game."

He smiled, handed her the money, and said, "No I'd like to pay. I don't want special treatment for doing what's right and helping people."

"Alright but there must be something I can do to make up for saving my life."

"No it's fine but I'll keep it in mind Miss." He got his shoes and went to go sit at a table next to their lane. Once he had his shoes on, he sat back in the chair and waited for Natasha and Thor.

Something seemed weird. Natasha and Thor. Natasha and Thor. Natasha AND Thor.

He froze when he remembered he forgot to call Natasha and tell her Thor was coming. It won't be a big deal. It's just two friends going bowling, what's the harm of adding one more?

He didn't have to wait long for Natasha to walk into the bowling alley. She smiled then walked over to him. When she reached the table he was sitting at, she said, "Hey, ready to bowl?"

"Yeah, and can I ask you something?"

She looked confused but said, "Sure, what?"

"Do you care that Thor is coming? He was asking me to go to Asgard with him when I said I couldn't because I was going bowling with you. He kind of invited himself along and I didn't want to be mean and tell him he couldn't come." He felt like he said that a little too fast. Steve thought he saw a hint of sadness in her eyes but it disappeared so fast it could have just been his imagination.

"Yeah it's fine."

"Natasha I'm sorry I didn't think you would mind."

"No it's fine, let's go get the lane."

"Already done. Your shoes are paid for too. Just go pick your shoe size."

Natasha laughed and lightly hit him on the arm. "I can't believe you did that! I was going to pay tonight!"

"I figured you would want to. That's why I got here early and paid."

"Ok guess I'll pay next time." They walked over to the counter to get Natasha's shoes then went back to the lane. Natasha entered in their names into the scoring machine while they waited for Thor.

After around five minutes Steve saw Thor walking through the front door. Steve and Natasha wave him over and tell him to get shoes. Thor looked confused about the bowling shoes when he said, "Hello friends."

Natasha smiled at his confusion and said, "Hey Thor."

Steve stood up since he was first to go and said, "Ready to play?"


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: These always make me sad, I have to leave my fantasies and admit that I don't own the movie or characters

Authors Note: Based on your reviews, I'm sorry if I disappointed any of you guys in this chapter but the story will start to come together! I promise! Also on the bowling scores, I don't actually know how good or bad those scores are, except for the 300 so sorry about that if I'm wrong. Personally I thought they were pretty good since I'm lucky to get 90.

Chapter 4

Natasha didn't understand why she couldn't seem to focus on the game. Something was just bothering her tonight. She remembered being really excited for the night. Something must have happened to make her feel... whatever way she was feeling. Maybe it was just because it was her, Steve, and Thor instead of the whole team.

Natasha continued to ponder why, when she heard Steve call out her name. "Natasha, it's your turn. The game is almost over."

She pulled herself out of her deep thoughts and looked up at the scores. It was the 10th frame and Thor was doing amazing. He had a perfect game so far and was about to score a 300. Apparently, bowling is basically the exact same thing as a game on Asgard. Steve was playing pretty good, he had a score of 173. She almost laughed when she saw her score. Usually she was really good at bowling but she hadn't really been concentrating, and it showed. Her score was 109.

Natasha stood up and grabbed her ball, "Well, let's get this game over with."

From behind her she heard Steve say, "Come on Natasha, you can do this."

Thor also encouraged her by saying, "Yes Natasha, crush those pins like your enemies! Show no mercy!"

They really did help. She was able to concentrate better now and, like Thor said, she wasn't about to show those pins any mercy. She swung the ball back then launched it forward faster than any of Thor or Steve's throws. The ball went straight down the middle of the lane before crashing into the pins and knocking them all down.

When she turned around, Steve was clapping and Thor was cheering. "Yes Natasha! Let the pins crumble before you!"

Steve laughed at Thor and said, "That was a great throw."

Natasha smiled in response and got ready to throw the next one. She got another strike on her second throw and 8 on her third throw.

Steve and Thor congratulated her for finishing strong, and then they went. Thor ended his game with a perfect 300, and Steve got a spare and a 9 during the frame.

They returned their bowling shoes and got their own shoes on. Once done, Thor turned to them and said, "Thank you friends for this wonderful game. I had no idea humans had such a game. I will remember this night always. See you at Tony's party."

Steve nodded to him and said, "Anytime, I had fun too."

"Yup fun time see ya at the party." replied Natasha. She thought she might have said it a little too fast but Thor didn't notice. With that, Thor left and Natasha and Steve walked outside.

She pulled out her phone and looked at the time. It was almost 7 and she was getting hungry. "Well, that was fun. I'm going to go home and get something to eat."

"Umm, about that. Natasha, would you like to go to dinner with me?" Then, he quickly added, "Unless you would rather eat alone or if you had other pla-"

"Yeah sure that sounds nice. Where are we eating?" She noticed that the weird feeling she had earlier was gone. Strange.

He looked surprised, but then recovered with, "Honestly I don't care. We could go to a restaurant, get fast food, or whatever you want."

She thought it over decided she didn't want to go out anywhere. "How about we eat at your place?"

"Wait, you want to come to my apartment and eat?"

"You did say wherever I wanted, right?"

"Well yes but-"

She rolled her eyes, grabbed his hand, and then started pulling him towards his motorcycle. "Aww come on it'll be fine. I'll cook if you want."

"No I can cook, it's just I've never had really anyone inside of my apartment before."

"Well you're about to."

He sighed, and then mounted the bike. "Alright, want the helmet?"

She got on behind him and said, "Nope."

He laughed and said, "I'm about to just throw it away. I never use it and neither do you." Steve started the motorcycle and headed towards his apartment.

She looked at the passing buildings before resting her head on his back. She could feel him stiffen at her touch but he soon relaxed. Natasha smiled at that, she loved his old fashioned way and even his discomfort around women.

The motorcycle soon came to a stop in front of Steve's apartment complex. They dismounted and started walking into the building. When they reached his apartment on the 3rd floor, Steve opened the door for her and let her go in first. His apartment looked small. It had a small living area with a kitchen to the side. Across from the kitchen there was a hallway that probably led to the bedroom and bathroom.

Steve closed the door behind them and said, "I know it's small but it suits my needs just fine."

"I like it, it's nice. Where's your bathroom?"

"Thanks, down the hall, first door on your right."

She told him, "Thank you." before walking to the bathroom. When she came back, Steve was already in the kitchen cooking.

He heard her enter the kitchen and asked, "Is spaghetti ok?"

"Yeah and I thought I was going to cook."

"You're a guest in my house I'm not going to have you cook."

"Fine but one of these days you're coming over to my house and I'm cooking for you."

He laughed and agreed. They talked until Steve was done making the spaghetti. He handed her a bowl with a fork before serving his own bowl. Then, they went and sat down on the couch.

Natasha blew on the spaghetti to cool it down before taking a bite of it. It was the best spaghetti she had ever tasted. "Oh my god, this is really good."

"Thanks."

"Where did you learn to cook like this?"

"When I was a kid I would sit in the kitchen and draw while my mom was cooking. Guess I payed attention sometimes."

Natasha laughed and continued to eat. They talked about random things until they were done eating. Seeing how late it was getting, Natasha thought she should be heading home. "Well thanks for the spaghetti. I should probably be headed home."

"Ok. Where do you live?"

"It's just a couple of blocks away, I can walk."

"No its fine I'll drive you lets go."

Before she could argue, she and Steve were out the door and on his motorcycle. The ride was short and soon they were outside her apartment complex. They dismounted and Steve followed her to her apartment. "Thanks for the ride."

"Anytime. Thanks for the fun night."

Just as she was about to tell him goodnight, something came over her. She kissed him on the cheek and said, "Goodnight Steve." before he could react, then closed her door.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I don't own anything

Authors Note: Short chapter I know. I wanted this to be short and full of thought. So, hope you like it and I hope it wasn't too rushed. Also, I'm trying to improve my writing so if you could offer me any tips or advice that would be awesome! Or if you just have suggestions for the story let me know!

Chapter 5

Natasha stood frozen behind her door. She couldn't believe what she'd done. She couldn't stop thinking _what the hell?_

There was a torrent of emotions welling up inside of her and she didn't know which ones were right. She did like Steve but she didn't know how much. It was really hard for her to admit things like this. Since she's a spy, she can't get close to people nor has she ever felt that way about anyone. But she knew that somewhere inside the torrent of emotions within her was a tiny bit of her that admitted she liked Steve. She pushed the thoughts out of her head and went to sit on her bed.

Natasha thought and thought about it until she could barely keep her eyes open. Her thoughts became a bit blurry because of her being so tired and suddenly she couldn't understand why she questioned it from the beginning. She liked Steve. Maybe, _maybe_ even loved him. How could she not. He was the perfect gentleman. He was caring, thoughtful, charming... Natasha fell asleep, thoughts of the super soldier still in her head.

* * *

Steve was confused beyond belief. Natasha just kissed him.

He was sitting on his bed in his apartment, thinking on what just transpired not 20 minutes ago. After Natasha closed the door, he stood there, not knowing whether to open it again and talk to her or to just leave. He chose the safer option, because he didn't know what he would have said, and left. He should have stayed but he was just so confused.

The last time he was kissed unexpectedly, it was by Peggy Carter. Steve almost choked on the name. He did love her immensely but he was never sure about how she felt. He hadn't thought about her since he learned of her death last year. So close. So close to being able to see him but nothing was ever fair for him. With Natasha, she wasn't afraid to speak her mind, like Peggy, but Natasha included how she felt about people in that.

Thoughts of Peggy and Natasha ran through his mind until he looked at his clock. It was 12. He'd been thinking about this for hours. Deciding he needed to go to sleep, he pushed away his thoughts and layed down to sleep. But his thoughts apparently weren't done with him. He tossed and turned trying to forget it all and sleep, but it seemed impossible. Frustrated, he turned on the light and sat up in bed.

Steve leaned off the bed and opened the drawer on his nightstand. He pulled out his sketch pad and a pencil. He didn't have any idea about what he was going to draw so he just let his mind wander and let his hand guide itself. He tried to think about anything besides Natasha and Peggy, but it didn't work. After a while, Steve looked down at his sketch pad and saw Natasha staring back at him. It was just her head and she was smiling. It captured not just her appearance, but _her. _Her essence and her personality.

Steve finally realized that he did love her. It was the same strength of passion in which he loved Peggy. Maybe even stronger. It was definitely clearer this time. He thought that she liked him back but until he knew for sure, he wouldn't do anything to jeopardize their friendship.

He fell asleep after putting his drawing on the nightstand, and this time, his thoughts didn't hound him. It was almost like they thought he did enough soul searching and that he needed a rest.


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: Don't own anything

Authors Note: Short I know. It's more of a filler chapter anyways. I have had such a bad case of writer's block I'm amazed that this one idea came to me so if you have any ideas, review and tell me or pm me!

Chapter 6

"Ok. I need a dress and none of these are going to cut it." Natasha walked away from her closet and grabbed her credit card. Time to do a little shopping. She wanted a dress to impress Steve and he'd probably seen her in all the other dresses she had.

Natasha was walking down the street to a dress store down the street, when she saw a crowd of people around one of the window's to a store. She shoved her way towards the front and saw that it was a gym. There were tons of people around a boxing ring watching two people fight. In the back corner of the gym, Natasha noticed that there were punching bags spilling sand all over the place.

Natasha only knew one person who could kill a punching bag that bad and it would explain the crowd. She shoved her way to the door and entered the gym. Natasha approached the fighting ring and saw benches filled with bruised and battered people on one side and cheering fans on the other side. She got a better look at the two people and saw that she was right about him being here.

Steve was in the ring facing someone she didn't know. The fight was over quickly, Steve being victorious and the crowd cheering for him. Natasha waited for him to exit the ring before running up to him and practically shouting, "What are you doing!?"

He jumped back, obviously scared. Once he saw it was her, he relaxed and said, "Hey Natasha. I was working out on the punching bags when I accidentally destroyed one. A couple of guys noticed and asked me to a boxing match. I said yes and I beat them all. Then another guy came up and bet me ten dollars that he could beat me. I won and now theres a never ending line of people to fight me."

Natasha took it all in and saw how tired Steve was. "How long have you been here for?"

"For about three hours."

"Well let's get out of here. You're going to hurt yourself."

"No I just need a break."

Natasha sighed. He was going to keep doing this till nobody was left. "No. You're leaving now."

Steve saw how serious she was and quickly nodded his head. "Yes, ma'am."

Natasha laughed and they exited the building through the back. They walked in silence before Steve turned to her and said, "Thanks for getting me out of there. I remembered that I'm meeting up with Clint, Tony, Bruce and Thor. Me and Thor have to learn about parties."

"Well good luck with that. Make sure you listen more to Bruce instead of Tony and Clint."

He nodded and said, "Bye." Before running off.

Natasha walked a few more steps before forgetting what she came out here to do. "What the hell did I even need?" she asked herself. Oh well. If the guys are hanging out then so can the girls. She got out her phone and called Pepper.


End file.
